Effect of various glass aggregates on the shrinkage and expansion of cement mortar.

Highlights • Shrinkage and expansion of various glass aggregate mortars are presented in this paper. • Crushed glass, glass beads, and expanded glass were used to replace natural sand. • Crushed glass and glass beads in mortar improved plastic and drying shrinkage. • Mortar bar tests confirmed deleterious nature of glass, except for expanded glass. Abstract This paper presents the effect of various glass aggregates on plastic and drying shrinkage and alkali silica reaction (ASR) expansion of cement mortar. The study was done by substituting a portion of sand with expanded glass, crushed glass, and glass bead aggregates. The low absorption capacity of glass, except expanded glass, enhanced the dimensional stability of the mixtures, minimizing volumetric contraction associated with shrinkage. Presence of finer glass particles in the mortar resulted in a large benefit in ASR expansion. The study found that cement mortar with glass aggregates can be beneficial if aggregate type and amount is chosen appropriately. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]